Go green! That phrase can have a variety of meanings. Today, let’s have it refer to adding more green to your fueling plan. As you know, fruits and vegetables provide a vast array of health benefits and are a necessary staple to your everyday meals and snacks. Go for a variety of colors when choosing your fruits and vegetables, trying to create a rainbow on your plate. Each color offers different benefits to your body and brain!
Check out the benefits of the greens below and pick a few to add to your plan this week.
Collard Greens: This green may be better at lowering artery-clogging cholesterol than broccoli or spinach, research has shown.
Kale: Just one cup of raw kale supplies a day’s worth of vitamins A and C and six times the daily requirement of bone-boosting vitamin K.
Bok Choy: This mild, slightly sweet cousin of cabbage is a great source of calcium because it’s low in oxalate, a compound in many greens that blocks absorption of the mineral. It also has 25 kinds of cancer-fighting antioxidants called polyphenols, a study has found.
Watercress: Watercress packs vision-protecting carotenoids and compounds that may inhibit the growth of breast cancer tumors.
Escarole: Escarole has a firm texture, pale color, and slightly bittersweet taste that set’s it apart from it’s look-alike, romaine. At just eight calories per uncooked cup, it supplies fiber and heart-healthy folate, along with vitamins A, C, and K.
QUICK AND EASY BOK CHOY TIPS!
Baby bok choy is great in stir-fries or tossed with oil, salt, and black pepper. It can be roasted at 400 degrees for five minutes. If you’re cooking the regular-size kind, make a dish by chopping the stalks and sautéing them in oil with garlic, ginger, and reduced-sodium soy sauce for three to four minutes.
Be Well ~Meg @REJOOV
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